Tofino Boat Sinking - Two Dead April 30, 2017

P

Peter & Judy

New member
An unfortunate accident occurred on April 30th, 2017 near Tofino, BC. A fishing boat (charter??) sunk and two of the five passengers and crew died. Details are still not complete, but the CBC report gives more details than I can list here, but it should be updated as the investigation continues. Good work by the Canadian Coast Guard, private vessels and aircraft that aided in the search.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tofino-sinking-2-dead-1.4093296
 
Sad to hear about the loss of life. If there had been PLB with each person--or perhaps even hand held VHF it is possible that rescue could have been faster.
Too many unknowns, but a warning to all of us.

I don't recognize that hull configuration as being one of the usual production 8 to 9 meter cats.
 
Given my recent trip that's spooky stuff. What was the make/model of the cat? I might have missed it in the article.

I've read a coupe articles about cats going down. Most involved poor maintenance - bilges did not work.

For my trip I brought along a 6' hose and a manual bilge - just in case.
 
That can be a rough portion of the coast with unpredictable waves. I just led another paddling group out there last month for 5 days. We had to delay our initial launch due to a strong late-season wind event. More safety gear on each person is a good idea and one of the reasons we sought out new PFDs (for C-dory use) with built in pockets for signaling goods and radio/PLB carrying.

http://www.lfsmarineoutdoor.com/safety- ... acket.html

Greg
 
This is truly unfortunate but happens frequently as people are unprepared and/or
unaware of the deadly consequences of being submerged in cold water. Just
because you are on a boat doesn't mean it can't happen to you. The moral is
be informed and be prepared if you MUST go out on cold water. A search of
recent surface water temperature in the area of the incident revealed it was 50*F,
probably a little lower in my opinion.

Below are some points about same from a paper I wrote some years back about
cold water shock and hypothermia.

* In northern latitudes during March, April and May the highest percentage of
deaths occur from people going out on dangerously cold water. (2)

* Alaska has 10 X the national boating fatality rate. (9)

* An average person has a 50/50 chance of surviving a 50 yard swim in 50* F water.(13)
* A 50 year old person in 50* F water has a 50/50 chance of surviving 50 minutes. (13)
[In this incident, 5 people were in about 50* F water for 1.5 hours]

* When the water temperature is < 60* F, wear “specialized insulating clothing”
(wet/dry suits, Polartec 2000, etc)

A life jacket, alone without specialized protective clothing, in cold water is no
assurance you will survive cold water shock or hypothermia. * Strong
swimmers wearing a PFD have died before covering 100 yards in cold water. (14)

Refs:
(2) “Baby It’s Cold Outside (believe it or not)”, Pennsylvania Fish & Boat
Commission, Apr 21, 2005, www.sites.state.pa.us
(9) “Cold Injuries Guidelines”, Version 2003, State of Alaska, www.chems.alaska.gov
(13) “Safety On (and in) the Water”, www.capital.net/com/nckayak/nck_safety_p4.html
(14) “Hypothermia and Cold Shock”, P Siedel, USCG Aux,
www.auxguidanceskills.info/press/hypothermia.html

Aye.
PS: Unfortunately, the most stable position for a catamaran in the water is
upside down.
 
Sadly, this article highlights how more attention should be paid to well established safety practices to avoid confusion, delays and errors.

Instead of querying why there wasn't an "all channels" mayday relay, or a mayday relay on the locally used channel (68), the real question is why weren't the other boats monitoring channel 16. To me, monitoring 16 is a moral obligation rooted in fairness and a sense of helping one another: if I want people to help me in an emergency, I must reciprocate. The coast guard explained in this article why 16 is the distress channel.

On another level, as has been mentioned already, a DSC emergency call would possibly have made a difference. That would have pulled all the VHF radios in range in and amounted to the "all channels" call that was referred to. But, again sadly, that does not appear to have happened.

[/url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tofino-emergency-callout-did-not-broadcast-on-popular-channel-1.4096454
 
Just to make the link above Easier to access.

I certainly agree,--why were most of the other boats on Chanel 68? They expected the CG to put out an "All channels" broadcast of the distress. In the USA I am not aware of an "All Channels" protocol.

This speaks for having the radio priority on 16 and use dual watch for monitoring 68. Again, the Distress DSC will not work unless the boat has an MMSI number programed into the radio. Then there would have been an alert to other boats.
 
I looked at the picture of the cat on the first link and it does not look to me like it "sank" but that it "foundered" or "took on a large amount of water and lost stability". I know the conditions at the time of the event might of been worse than what we see in the photo but a 27' cat should be able to handle 4' waves and 20 mph winds or worse. There most be more to the story that is not yet reported. I have sailed an eight foot open Sabot in conditions about as bad given only having 8" of free board, not fun but I made it back to shore after a Santana wind kicked up. Sobering turn of events.
Bob
 
I just can't understand the reluctance to buy personal locator beacons. A floating ACR beacon is often on sale for $200. The only thing you have to do is unfold the antenna and press a button and your GPS position is relayed via satellite to search and rescue. Not only are they notified exactly where you are, but if you register it with NOAA (at no charge) the rescuers know who you are, the description of your boat, and home base.

Although I have a VHF with DSC and a registered MMSI along with a handheld VHF, I still prefer the idea of having my PLB attached to my person when the s--- hits the fan.

Rant is over and I have gone to my corner :oops:
 
Over the years I have benefited from group purchase discounts extended to members of other forums I belong to and think that there are enough C-Brats that need to take a step in the right direction in terms of safety gear to secure some beneficial pricing levels. Perhaps start with one item at a time and then move up a wish list every 90 days or so. There will always be the matter of what order of purchase but we have "senior members" to whom we can just cede that decision as all the major bases will get covered in due time. Perhaps we could start a thread on which items seem most important and which models might fit the bill given dealer/manufacturer co-operation. Any good flotation device is better than none or one that does not fit or is in poor condition. Same for beacons and dual watch radios. Bob
 
bobjarrard":3v0bn1tk said:
Over the years I have benefited from group purchase discounts extended to members of other forums I belong to and think that there are enough C-Brats that need to take a step in the right direction in terms of safety gear to secure some beneficial pricing levels. Perhaps start with one item at a time and then move up a wish list every 90 days or so. There will always be the matter of what order of purchase but we have "senior members" to whom we can just cede that decision as all the major bases will get covered in due time. Perhaps we could start a thread on which items seem most important and which models might fit the bill given dealer/manufacturer co-operation. Any good flotation device is better than none or one that does not fit or is in poor condition. Same for beacons and dual watch radios. Bob
Click to expand...
:thup That's a great idea Bob. Any thoughts on how we'd go about setting something like that up?
 
I spent some time on the ACR site. That seems like one really first group buy. ACR likely best for us as the + model floats. Flotation is another hot item as is a good ditch bag to start putting this stuff into. Perhaps we could contact one of the major retail distributors - even online source. Just some first thoughts here!!
Bob
 
BOE Marine and International Marine do have group buys for folks on The Hull Truth periodically for safety gear. Also Thru Active Captain, there are Defender specials. Some really good, others only fair.

We had tried locally with West Marine to get a "group buy", but were disappointed, even though the local manager was behind the movement. Unfortunately there is not a lot of profit margin on marine electronics.

As for ditch bags--I have had the same SealLine "dry bag" for many years. It still is totally sealed and will float when filled with gear and enough air. The problem I have with the ACR Ditch bag (which I owned) was that it was not waterproof. I feel that any good ditch bag needs to be waterproof. I carry survival gear, as well as the electronic notification devices.

Although we carried two EPRIBs on our long distance cruising boats, we feel that PLB are more than enough for the C Dory's. They are small enough that they are easily put on one's life jacket or pocket. We have 3; one for each of us, and one in the ditch bag. Same with the waterproof radios (including a Standard Horizon HX 870 with DSC and GPS. That,plus the one in our ditch bag has alkaline battery trays, for use if the NiCad or Lithium rechargeable dies, we have another source of power for the radio.
 
Does Canada have the same requirements to monitor 16 that the US does? Would be good info to know for when boating in Canadian waters. Colby
 
Peter & Judy":1l8vdyjk said:
Another article from CBC. It seems that search and rescue by local boaters in the Tofino area was delayed due to the fact that most of them were monitoring Channel 68 and the Coast Guard Call for assistance was made on Channel 16. So, many boaters missed the distress call and were unaware that there was an emergency and thus unable to offer assistance.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.4096454
Click to expand...

That's the article I was referring to (and tried to include) in my earlier post.
 
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